What You Want
Prologue: The Grace Period Dark. Black. The lack of sound disturbed the women who stood within this room, dead-center, bound by chains from the wrists and ankles. Her expression was blank; that of a woman who had given up. Before her stood a large podium, where multiple individuals sat, concealed behind plaques that hid their faces. "Harumi Muruiyama." The voice of an elderly man; sharp and piercing, shook her out of her stupor. "4th of the Seventh Division. Not only were you charged with attempted assassination of the Head Captain, but then you resisted apprehension numerous times! Do you acknowledge this?" "Yes, but-!" Harumi began but another voice, an elderly woman, who spoke with a simpering, high-pitched voice that was girlish and breathless, as if she very much enjoyed what she was doing. "We do not need to hear your excuses! Your acknowledgement is evidence enough!" While concealed behind a plaque like the remaining judges, she had waved a hand which came into shrouded view; what could be seen was that she wore several gaudy, ugly old rings. "Central 46, listen to me!" Harumi pleaded. "I had every r-!" "ENOUGH!" Yet another individual snapped. "Our patience wanes, Harumi! In addition to your original sentences, you then proceeded to give your Shinigami abilities to a human, are we correct!?" "Yes, I did, b-!" "And after that proceeded to resist arrest for an additional time!" The high-pitched woman's voice rose, if possible, even higher, breathless with apparent malicious excitement. "Your sentence has been passed! Due to the crime of high treason, in addition to several other crimes, you will be executed by the Sōkyoku!" Approaching The Edge Ten days had passed quicker than Ahatake had expected, and, he, Gaikou, and Kayla were now just simply resting before their departure. During the training, Ahatake had cut his hair, and it was now only cheek-length. It wouldn't be long before Entenryū decided tell them how they were getting to the Soul Society in the first place. Until then...Gaikou and Kayla lounged around his apartment. Gaikou immediately took out a lighter, lighting up a "cigarette. hoping not to garner odd looks. "...What," she withdrew it from her mouth, revealing it to be a lolipop. "Smokers are jokers." She stretched; sighing, "...So, with this power, I can kick some ghost samurai ass?" Kayla nodded. "It's the general idea anyway. With our new strength from that training, we should be able to match these Shinigami when we finally make it over to the afterlife." She sighed, leaning back in a chair. "I thought I'd finally gotten away from that place...I never wanted to have to go back." Gaikou smirked rather evilly. "Well, why don't we trash the damn place while we're there? I certainly think that those self-righteous assholes deserve a trashin'." She ground her right fist against her left palm. "Come on, come on! I don't wanna waste time while I could be headshotting me some ghost samurai!" "We're waiting for instructions." Ahatake waved a hand, his other hand twirling his short hair around his finger. He was irritated that Entenryū made him cut it, but apparently, long hair gets in the way in combat. Ahatake sincerely wished he would be hit by a bus. Gaikou yawned, stretching her arms. "Reminds me, where is that other guy? You know, the white-haired oddball? Did he just piss off or something?" "That is a good question..." Ahatake frowned. "I'm not even sure if he's tagging along or not, though an extra party member could really help." "Meh, I have a thought that he'll show up sooner or later. He doesn't seem like a teamwork lovin' guy, for one. We just have to trust that he'll bail us out...sometime." Gaikou remained something resembling positive on this one. "Knowing him, he'll show up just to get payback." Ahatake shrugged. The boy seemed alot like him to begin with. "So, Gaikou, did you tell your parents or family that you're gonna be gone for awhile?" Kayla asked, deciding to pry a bit to found out what excuse Gaikou had given her parents. Since she and Ahatake were orphans, them vanishing every now and then never caused much notice. Gaikou offhandedly mentioned, "Nah, I don't have any parents, so we're good." She sounded rather uncaring about the fact that she had, well, no parents. "They died a long time ago, and I say let that stuff be in the past. What matters is the future, eh?" "I'm someone who prefers to live in the past, actually." Ahatake replied. "The future, the fact that one can never know what's coming, it's actually a disturbing thought." Gaikou argued, "Read that manga about the ninja? On top of being a manchild, the villain lived in the past and now look at him. See where I'm going?" "True, that was horrible." Ahatake sighed. "And what's sad is I actually was mostly enjoying the series up until that point." He winced at that. It's really sad when an entire character can derail a ser-." His sentence got cut off by what sounded like a giant alarm. Gaikou continued on, "I really don't understand why people even like that stupid-ass clan-" she looked up, questioning, "...Huh? The hell was that?" Ahatake looked out the window, and saw a giant flashing word display in the sky. It read: AHATAKE'S GROUP! PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE GREEN DRAGON SHOP IMMEDIATELY! INSTRUCTIONS WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU UPON ARRIVAL! Ahatake sighed. "...that man..." He heard yet another alarm and saw a second message under the first. DO NOT IGNORE THIS MESSAGE! YOU HAVE NO IDEA JUST HOW MUCH MONEY THIS COST — OR HOW MANY LAWS WE'RE BREAKING RIGHT NOW TO PUT THIS UP! Gaikou stretched; grumbling like she just lost her house. "...Can you not. I'm friggin' tired, I have a headache, can we just WAIT now. I want to smash some ghosties, but gimme twenty minutes..." She suddenly began to doze off to sleep. "Oh for fuck's sake..." Ahatake grabbed her by the hair; jealous of the fact she still had hers, most likely, and began to drag her out of the house with Kayla following. "We're going, Gaikou." Gaikou yelled at Ahatake as she was dragged off kicking and screaming, "Oh, come on! Can I sleep on the way then!?" Ahatake ignored her as they made their way to the Green Dragon Shop, more annoyed by the giant flashing neon sign inexplicably floating in the middle of the air that was beginning to attract attention — including several police officers — than he was about trying to walk out in this crowd. "Where the hell is Dohko...!?" Gaikou snarked, "Probably on a bus. Just keep moving, he'll probably show up...eventually." Right as Gaikou stretched the last syllable of that word, Dohko did appear out of nowhere, like a ninja descending from shadows. "...Speak of the devil. What took you?" "I don't even know you people other than a few interactions. I'm not entitled to come with you everywhere." Blunt and to the point. "I highly doubt you're going to let an assbeating sit on your conscience." Ahatake was equally blunt. "Unless you're content with the knowledge that you got beat down by random nobodies from the afterlife being in the back of your head for the rest of your life." "Sigh." Gaikou moved to smack Dohko. "You didn't sigh, you just said the word!" Dohko straightened his tie. "Ay, ay, watch it lady. I don't care for conflict. Yes, he defeated me. I'm okay with that, because there's a lot of people stronger than me." "You're lying through your teeth." It wasn't Ahatake who spoke, but Entenryū, who stepped casually out of his shop, rustling his hair. He looked dead tired. "Everyone here? Good. Did you like my summons?" Dohko cracked his neck in bemusement. "You're certainly a loud fella, that's for sure. I haven't slept in seven years, and you act like you're tired? That's rough luck, buddy. I'd prefer if you sent it by carrier pidgeon since that's how you send a message like a real man." Gaikou snarked, "Do you even listen to yourself talk?" "Eh, I zone in and out." Such a blunt reply. "Obviously." Entenryū motioned them to follow him. "Come inside. It's getting crowded out here." Ahatake groaned. "Yeah, police and various spectators is "crowded". He doesn't even understand this town isn't used to this. They're going to be talking about this for weeks..." "Oh just go inside." Kayla pushed him into the shop. Dohko looked around. "So, where we headin'? Is this like, a pawn shop or somethin'? Do you think that maybe I could get some sewing materials from-" Gaikou immediately went to twist his arm, aggressively threatening, "Shut up and walk, dear." "Looks like Gaikou won't have to worry about not getting married." Ahatake chuckled. Gaikou glared at him. "Boy, I'm gonna cut you if you even insinuate such a thing." She looked...really damn angry. In fact, it seemed that fire was shooting off of her body as she threatened Ahatake; flames hotter than his own. "Pegged it." Ahatake ducked a swing from the woman as Entenryū led them down into the basement. During the remainder of his training, Entenryū had been regrowing the forest. Whatever he used to grow these plants certainly could not have been legal, but the air smelled and tasted beautiful again. Dohko looked around- his senses were overloaded by the sheer greenery of this basement. "So, if it's so green, how do we not know that you're growin' something else in here?" That also brought the question up of how was it restored so easily. "Everything I do is will within the law." Entenryū replied lazily. This was, of course, a lie. A spectacle like he had caused not minutes prior was certainly illegal — he'd pointed it out in his second message. "All of you, come with me." Entenryū led them to the center of the forest; quiet as it was, something was obviously amiss. Kayla looked around, and, to her surprise, saw a giant, stone-like gate looming over them all. Gaikou just had to state the obvious. "Wait, what's that? It looks like a gate." Dohko smacked her in the back of the head. "Thanks, Captain Obvious." "...That's Grand-Commander Obvious, you numbskull." She hissed. "Both of you are grand idiots." Entenryū interrupted their bickering, his lazy tone sucking the life from the area. "This right here..." He raised his hand to tap it. "...is a Senkaimon." Dohko scratched his head. "...Sen...kai...mon?" "Put it together, idiot. It's a Senkaimon." "....Three...monkey...?" Dohko broke on trying to pronounce it. "Dammit do you not understand Japanese!? It's Senkaimon!" Gaikou felt her rage boiling; Dohko couldn't understand Japanese well. At all. "Kai-mon-sen?" At that point Gaikou just snapped and tried to strangle him. "IT'S SENKAIMON! SENKAIMON!!! YOU GODDAMN IDIOT!!" Entenryū quickly saw that he was not incorrect in referring to this motley group as three grand idiots. "I'm going to assume you grew up speaking English. The name, in English means "World Penetration Gate", if you want it directly translated. And it is exactly as it sounds." Entenryū smartly rapped the doors again. "This gate here will lead you into the Soul Society." "Hehe...penetration." Dohko sniggered to himself at a rather immature word. Gaikou smacked Dohko in the back of the head this time. "Stop being such a baby and enter the damn gate when he says so." "This all seems nice, but we're still alive." Ahatake gestured around to them all. "Well, everyone except Kayla. How are we even going to get to the afterlife, I'm pretty sure a living human cannot easily walk the road to the afterlife." "Very astute. That explains the flying pigs this morning." Entenryū moved to drone on with more of his explanation. "All things in the physical world are made of "kishi". All things in the spiritual world are made of "reishi". Thanks to a good friend of mine, this Senkaimon has been fitted with a Reishi Henkan-Ki, which, as the name implies, exchanges the "kishi" that creates your physical bodies with "reishi", which creates a spiritual body. For everyone except..." He quickly donned a glove, slamming his hand into Ahatake's face and forcing him out of his body in his Shinigami robes. "...you. Since Ahatake already has a spirit body, the Reishi Henkan-Ki will have no effect on him." "Myself as well." Kayla brought the attention to herself as her body began to glow briefly for a moment. Despite the lack of any real change, something appeared to have happened. "I am capable of switching between a form of "kishi" and "reishi" at will. I suppose it's only for everyone else that this machine is necessary." "Alright. Any questions?" Dohko's head hurt after such an explanation. "...That's certainly interesting. Anyway let's go, there's no time to waste, who knows what they could be doing to her, blah, blah, blah, let's just bust some skulls." While he claimed to know what Entenryū was talking about, he was just lying out of his ass. There was a fluttering of wings as a bird landed on Ahatake's shoulder. The same bird, pink fluffy-feathered thing, that had been watching his training. Ahatake cast it a look. "Whaddya want? Shoo!" In retaliation, the bird pecked at his face numerous times. "Oh be quiet." The voice it spoke with was that of an elderly woman. An elderly woman with attitude. "My name is Mosemkinbane. I should say it's nice to meet you all, but, I'd be lying." Dohko glared at the floating chicken. "Well, up yours too, you floating snack. You do know if we get hungry you're the first to go?" "Whose the chicken?" Ahatake agreed with Dohko here, pointing at Mosemkinbane. "That will be your guide." No one knew how Entenryū could say that with a straight face. Gaikou rubbed her temples. "...Ah, it's still better than the talking lion plushie. I'd shoot myself if I had to deal with one of those. At least this one looks delicious." One would think that Mosemkinbane would be pissed at the group by now for making so many chicken jokes. "All of you be quiet." Mosemkinbane snapped. "I will introduce myself once more. My name is Mosemkinbane, but you can simply shorten that to Mokin, I know no one wants to say the entire name. I am going to be guiding you through the Soul Society, and the gods know idiots like you will need every bit of help you can get." She looked at Ahatake. "You! Dimwit!" Ahatake jumped for a second, looking at her. "What?" "You're the reason for this, the entire reason this group of ragtag warriors are assembled here to lay siege to the oldest military organisation still functioning in either dimension." Her red eyes were piercing now. "What will you do when you find an enemy you cannot hope to defeat? What will you do if your friends are about to die? What will you do, boy, when you have to make the tough decisions? We're not heading to a block party, you're in over your head here, kid." Ahatake breathed for a moment, and actually grinned. "My answer is simple. We just have to win. I'm not going to think about hypothetical situations like death or loss. If I am confronted with an opponent as tough as you say, even if my own power isn't enough, I'll beat them down through sheer attrition. If my friends are about to die, I'll put my life on the line to protect theirs. When I have to make tough decisions, I will ensure they benefit everyone here. You're not getting me to back down now, Mokin. We. Will. Win!" Dohko made a strong-armed gesture in support, backing Ahatake up. "Hell yeah we will. You took the words out of my mouth! With all of us together, there's not a single damn force in this here universe that can take us down. We'll send those bastards packing, and save the girl, no sweat!" "I suppose a brave group of fools is better than nothing." Mokin chuckled. "Entenryū! Open the Senkaimon! We know what they want now." "Naturally." Entenryū took his sword, placing it at the center of the gate, where it simply slipped right in. He then turned it, like a key, and the gate opened, creating a whirling tunnel. "I will warn you now. Even when you step here, you will have to pass through the Dangai. The moment you enter, do not stop. The gate to the other side closes quickly, and if you're too late, you will be trapped inside until another Senkaimon opens." Gaikou sarcastically stated, "Well, that makes things a walk in the park, doesn't it? Can't you just, like teleport us there or something? It sounds like so much trouble..." Ahatake sighed. Too many people he was with had no tact. "You're not even being serious, Gaikou." He cast a look at the portal. "We understand, Entenryū. Run straight on through." "Excellent. Mokin." Entenryū looked at the bird, who nodded, before flying in front of everyone. "All of you, follow my lead here. I will fly in first, and you will follow. This is your last chance. Is anyone going to back out?" Ahatake shook his head. "Not me." Kayla agreed. "I'm in this for the long run." Gaikou mused, "Well, she and I are friends. And I guess Ahatake and Kayla are friends too. I'm not going to just wimp out and leave Harumi to die. I'm in- ACK, HEY!" Dohko immediately got her in a arm-hold. "That's the spirit! Now onwards!" He seemed so damn cheerful. Eluding Reason "Then come!" Mokin flew straight inside the funnel, and Ahatake followed her, quickly followed by Kayla and the others. As they landed into the dimension, they were overtaken by the sight, and actually did stop. "This..." Ahatake looked a bit disturbed. "It's like the entire place is melting." They were surrounding by purple matter, slopping to the ground like sludge, it was what created the walls and the majority of this dimension. Gaikou noted, "It's like some sort of psychadelic painting. What happens if it touches us?" "That is known as the "Koryū", the flowing current of the Dangai." Mokin explained. "If you are to touch it, you will be consumed. Keep moving!" She barked, and everyone jumped, running right after her. "These idiots....stopping now!" "This place...it just feels so...off..." Kayla frowned. She had traversed the Dangai only once before; when she fled Soul Society. She hadn't seen it in nearly 50 years. Dohko snarked, "It's like going down to a graveyard. Or something. Are we there yet because damn if this ain't giving me the chills." Truth be told he'd never seen the Soul Society before- or anything connected to it. Kayla shivered for a moment, and the feeling was mimicked by nearly everyone in the area. "Does anyone...feel something?" Gaikou looked around. "Nnnnnnnnnope." She suddenly felt the shiver. "Oh wait, what the hell is that? Is it like, some ghost or something? ...Don't tell me it's ghosts, since we're going to a whole damn town of 'em." A light was cast on their path; much like a train that was chasing idiots foolish enough to wander onto train tracks. "...oh you have got to be kidding me." Ahatake, whilst running, turning his head back to see a giant, bullet-train like mass chasing them, complete with the signal light in front. "...what the fuck?" "I repeat; what the hell is that?" Gaikou quickly turned around before going back to running like hell once more. "Seriously in a friggin' cave, why is there a train of all damn things!?" All aboard the Soul Train, it seemed. "You fools!" Mokin snapped at them, never missing a beat; in fact, she began to fly faster and everyone quickly picked up the hint that they needed to move. "That is the Kōtotsu! A construct made entirely of reason; an energy far separated from reiatsu. Beings like us cannot interact with such a thing without losing ourselves. Keep running, and do not miss a step or you will be left behind and forgotten!" "Basically, antimatter, right? Well, shit." Dohko muttered under his breath- more focused on getting the hell out of there more than anything. Ahatake could see a glimmer of light, near the end of the tunnel. "Everyone, we're nearly there!" The chill, however, increased, as the Kōtotsu persisted in chase. Dohko definitely had the time to look at his wristwatch as he ran like the wind; ironically, his element was that of the power of the skies. "Imagine if this train crashed and then tore into the ghost world and there'd be like death and destruction everywhere. That'd be neat- wait, no, no, no. It wouldn't be neat..." Gaikou still had enough energy in her body to reach over and slap Dohko in the back of the head. "Do you even listen to yourself talk?" "I fade in and out." As they kept running, Kayla, who was lagging a bit behind everyone, suddenly felt herself slowing further. "What's happening!?" Her braid was caught. Mokin first to react. "Ignore her! The Kōtotsu has her! Keep moving!" Ahatake, however, was having none of that, and stopped, extending his hand to Kayla. "Grab it!" He called out, and she clasped his hand, however, he couldn't pull her. Thinking quickly, she simply detached her ponytail, and Ahatake pulled her towards him, grabbing her and starting to run. "Crap!" He hissed. The Kōtotsu was gaining on them and he and Kayla were probably about to get swallowed up. Kayla raised her hand, pointing it over Ahatake's shoulder. "Keep moving!" She ordered, and converted her hand into a blaster. "Jump!" She barked and Ahatake followed orders. At the moment he jumped, she fired a large blast of spiritual energy towards the Kōtotsu, the force of the blast pushing Ahatake forward, adding to his speed as it sent him flying towards the running group, pushing them all out of the Dangai. The Keeper of the Gates As Gaikou began to fall, she screamed...like a little girl. Something hilariously high-pitched for the tough-acting Quincy. "...How long have we been falling?" Dohko seemed relaxed, merely looking at his wristwatch again, snarking, "I don't know, my watch doesn't tell time." What. "I've got us!" Kayla swooped down, growing wings, and folding them at her side to increase her own descent speed, before swooping upright and making a crashing landing. "Now!" She placed her hands onto the dirt road, raising it into air by pulling on the soul of this matter, and softening it into a cushion. The group safely landed; Gaikou, however, managed to land face first on the cushion- as Dohko landed on top of her. "...Don't get any ideas, you asshole." She screamed at him as her cries were muffled. "Soon enough. Soon enough." Dohko snarked; he clearly wasn't interested. "If you were my boyfriend I'd poison you." "Well, if you were my girlfriend I'd drink the damn poison." He retorted. "Both of you, be quiet!" Mokin snapped, and looked at Ahatake. "Wht did you not leave the girl?!" She seemed quite irritated with Ahatake for saving the girl's life. "I told you to leave anyone." Kayla actually looked affronted. "Why you-!" Ahatake raised a hand to quiet her. "I told you already. I'm not letting any of my friends die — especially Kayla, of all people." "You nearly got us all killed." Mokin barked. To her, this was serious business. "And yet, here we are, perfectly alive." Ahatake dusted off his Shihakushō. Better than that, Kayla saved us all from getting crushed. Don't snap at me for keeping one of my comrades alive, just because you're stuck with someone like Entenryū for a friend." Mokin's eyes glinted with rage. "You stripling-!" Gaikou looked at the flying chicken with an expression of animosity. "Yeah, can you not say "oh leave Gaikou behind, she's complaining". At least I can fight instead of fly and squawk." "You unruly chi-!" Mokin was seemingly going to snap at them all before she stopped herself, and noticed several people who looked like villagers all gathering from their houses to look at the strange new arrivals. Dohko looked at the enormous mob of people walking to greet them. "Everyone, play it cool. I've got this under control." He stepped forwards, stretching his arms while talking and also translating in sign language. "We...come...in...peace. Take...us...to...your...leader." Mokin, if it had hands, it would have smacked itself in the head from this boy's sheer stupidity. Ahatake, however, had the brain to actually ask a question. "Why are they just staring?" Mokin, grateful for some semblance of normalcy, was only to happy to answer. "Souls who arrive in the Soul Society without the aide of a Shinigami are generally mistrusted. They are referred to as Ryōka. So I suppose that's us." Dohko snarked, "Blah, such a stupid name. I'd prefer Soul Society Invasion Team. Or something. Anyway, that's interesting. What should we ask; since I'mma thinkin' we should ask where the hell we hafta go..." "That is a pointless act." Mokin sighed. "I am blessed with enough knowledge of this place that I can guide you myself." "Then why do we talk to 'em? Should we just point out that we mean no harm and go on? Stop confusing me, dammit! I'm not that smart, I can at least admit it." Dohko snarled at the talking chicken; imagining that admitting his stupidity to a talking ghost bird was the most unusual situation he'd been in. Ahatake cast a look over at a large, circular shiro in the distance, and something clicked in his head. "That! Right there!" He pointed. "That's where we need to go!" And without further delay, he took off. "...YOU IDIOT!" Mokin cried, her feathers spiking rather comically. "Get back here!" "Not a chance, the largest place in an area is always where you want to go!" "FOOLISH FOOL!" Mokin shrieked, but a loud explosion as several mighty walls crashed to the ground, stopping Ahatake in his tracks. "What the..." The explosions continued as the walls formed around the perimeter, creating a large gate. Mokin seemed to let out a large sigh. "You...utter...dimwit..." She groaned. "You triggered the Four Great Seireimon...so much for stealth." Gaikou looked up at Ahatake, yelling at Mokin, "...Well, given how he's acted since you met him, what else did you expect of the bastard?" Not like any of them were any smarter. CRASH! A loud breaking noise resounding in front of them, the first thing they saw was the ground being rent asunder, raising up and separating Ahatake from them all. "Ahatake!" Kayla cried out, but the risen rock-formation obscured her from view. A shadow suddenly dwarfed them all, a gargantuan form of a person, a dark skinned man with milky eyes and wearing a very violent expression. Mokin suddenly looked shocked, regretful even. "Now he's done it...this is Danzōmaru." Gaikou couldn't believe her eyes. "What kinda titan is that...? No, who the hell is that?" "He's a Gatekeeper..." Mokin's voice was grave. "Ahatake's done something very stupid indeed..." END